However, content licensing grew thanks to the sale of shows such as Hawaii Five-O for domestic reruns.

CBS also announced it would quadruple the pace of its share buybacks in the current quarter as it spends cash raised from the pending spin-off of its outdoor billboard business.

Investors cheered the news, sending shares up $US2.62, or 4.2 per cent, to $US64.47 in after-hours trading. Earlier, shares had closed up 95 US cents at $US61.85.

Net income in the three months to December 31 rose to $US470 million ($A522.14 million), or 76 US cents per share, from $US393 million, or 60 US cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding restructuring charges, adjusted earnings came to 78 US cents per share, beating the 76 US cents expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue grew six per cent to $US3.91 billion from $US3.7 billion a year earlier, and topped the $US3.82 billion analysts expected.

CBS said it plans to finish the spinoff of its outdoor billboard business by the end of March. The company also said it had raised $US1.6 billion in new debt. Most of the funds will go toward buying back shares worth about $US2 billion in the quarter through March, up from a planned buyback pace of about $US500 million.